"I'll admit I may have seen better days,
but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail,
like a salted
peanut"(Margo Channing)

Tuesday, 15 September 2015

A Letter From Trelawnyd

Our last holiday snap....Nia's very Aussie son George photobombing us!

Dear All,

We have swapped a big sky for a much smaller one , and jet lag woke me up at 5am when the three dogs and Albert accompanied me for a dark walk.
Trelawnyd seems very quiet.
Australian birds, even in the night are bloody big mouths. They chatter like trailer trash girls after too much beer.
I missed the animals here, but all is well with them.
Albert, funnily enough , has, I think missed everyone the most, for he was effectively left " home alone" with only a daily house sitter's ten minute visit a day to keep him company. He has not left our side since our return, and has presented us with two dead voles ( gifts that he made sure were seen and appreciated) . During my post holiday veg out in front of a re run " Bake Off" , he stubbornly sat facing the tv within our line of view........
I think he just wanted to be noticed.

Winnie, George and William each had varying amounts of pampering in their respective holiday breaks so all have returned happy, healthy and smiling to the fold.
Winnie had been dispatched to the care of Norma and her very elderly retired guide dog Max, so has effectively been spoilt rotten .

I asked Norma for a precis of news and received a rather poignant observation of Winnie's gentle nature for on an evening she would join the ancient, slightly demented Labrador as he sat in the dusk sunshine and both would look out over the garden together like two old ladies on a park bench.
" she has a sweet heart" Norma observed...and I felt like I had just watched my child win a spelling bee at school.

George was at my sister's house, so has returned home looking cleaner, neater and happy in the fact he was allowed to do his own thing. While my sister's dogs hunted for frogs together in their vast garden, George was happy pottering around the house like a housewife with a duster...
It's clearly his second home.

And William.....what about William?
Well the kennel owner said he bounced around barking hysterically with all of the other goo-goo eyed dogs separated from their owners.
" He CRAPPED right up the walls of the run" she observed with a chuckle " how DOES HE DO THAT SO HIGH?"
" It's a lifelong skill" I replied " That's my boy"

Teenage boffin, Cameron and the neighbours have looked after the animals well.....only one casualty to mention....a ten year old buff dropped dead with cabbage leaf in her mouth. The other hens, Geese and the sheep are all well, health and hearty!
But it's cold and raining today........
And the prospect of bleaching the toilet and scrubbing old mouse secretions from the living room carpet leaves me pining for the Warmth of Australia's spring......

I'll leave you with a small belated selection of mini reviews from my marathon film watching on Singapore airlines.......it's keeping me diverted from housework, the fact that I have put on at least 8 lbs in weight ( fat club today ! ) and the rain.......hey ho!
If you have missed these movies first time around .......make sure you see them .

DANNY COLLINS
Now I have never been a fan of Al Pacino....I have always found him rather too " on the go" but this tale of a coked up, booze ridden old rock star seeking redemption for a hollow but successful life is a little
gem of a movie.

Pacino is wonderfully playful in the title role and clearly from the outset he is
happy to let his fellow stars steal the limelight from his flirty, but sincere portrayal of a man wanting to atone for his mistakes . Annette Benning playes the manger of a bland backwater hotel who is not afraid to tell the star what she thinks and thir scenes together have warmth and sassy-nesswhich is charming.
Bobby Cannavale and Jennifer Gardener are given the same courtesy of their fair share of the good lines in their roles of Collin's estranged son and his wife and Christoper Plummer almost steals the show with his role as the singer's foul mouthed, wise cracking agent....
Its a lovely sweet movie that will make you smile ( and at the end sob)

FORCE MAJEURE
This cold study of a seemingly strong relationship shaken to the core by a sudden moment of instinct was a standout for me. It centres upon a well heeled Swedish family Tomas & Ebba ( Johannes Kunhace and Lisa Loven Kongsil) and their two children who are enjoying a skiing holiday in the Alps.

At lunch in a mountain cafe, the family is caught up in a terrifying avalanche and in the face of what everyone thinks is certain death, Ebba grabs the children whilst Tomas grabs his phone and runs.
The film then explores the fall out Tomas's' behaviour has on himself and his family.

Not an easy watch but a very powerfully put together film. It's worth a view.

GRAVITY
Now I missed this first time around, and was reluctant to see it as many people I know thought it was a bit of a drag, but even on a small aircraft screen , I thought this was an old fashioned, edge- of- your seat movie.Clooney and Bullock have seldom been better.
I loved it.

So there you have it, my return letter from Trelawnyd....it's back to normal now.....the Prof has left for work in South Wales for the day and I need to mop the wet paw prints from the kitchen floor

63 comments:

Glad to have you back safely, John, followed your travels with great enjoyment, but glad you are safely back home and hope that the jet lag goes soon, that the rain will stop, that the sun will come out, and that the mouse leavings came off the carpet with ease.

Come back Johno we miss you xxx so true about our Aussie birds being so noisy . At the moment the rainbow lorikeets are thinking about settling down for the night but the noise . I have had black and white cockatoos flying over . The magpies are hungry and today they brought down their baby to meet me . The kurrawobgs have had a noisy chorus and I have heard the sweet trill of the King Parrots . The kookaburras bare bring very quiet . We miss you Johno xx

Good to have you back. Your writing is as always superb. e.g.." George pottering about like a housewife with a duster" paints such a picture ! I am also warming towards Winnie, not the most beautiful of dogs in my eyes, but she does sound rather a dear. X

Our birds are indeed less than musical. At the moment the wattle birds start their asthmatic cough well before sparrow fart.I am not surprised Albert missed you (and Winnie) so badly. And glad to hear that someone else recognised Winnie for the sweetheart she is.

Glad all is well in Brigadoonwyd. Can tell how much you were bowled over by your Antipodean Adventure. So glad you loved Danny Collins - I have loved Al from afar for decades - oh-so-handsome in The Godfather - and if you fancy a lift from the post-holiday doldrums, watch 'Frankie and Johnny', my go-to feel-good film. It still raises a belly-laugh or two. Lovely to have you back. x

I hope the jet lag doesn't deter you both from coming back again. I love Winnie...she's such s diva. My son has a Lakeland terrier and it's like babysitting a grand child. Chewie knows every word you say to him. Love him dearly.

Ahh long haul flight films now that's an interesting issue. On Dubai to Melbourne (13hrs) flight I gave daughter (24!) polite request due to close proximity of screens (economy) any genre BUT horror. 3 in a row later and no sleep don't you just love them - not.Good to see you got back without any hitches and that the jet lag has kicked in.

Nice to have you back, but you've arrived home just as the weather has taken a real turn to Autumn. Damp and wet and just typical North Wales, you must really be feeling the chill after your Aussie adventures.

I've been meaning to watch the second film you reviewed, I must look out for it, it should be in the cheap Dvd section soon :-)

Of those three, I had thought that 'Force Majeure' is the 'must-see', but I now note that I gave it a relatively tepid rating of 6.5 :-http://raybeard.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/film-force-majeure.htmlIn fact I rated 'Gravity' higher, even though I normally dislike space films, though only because of all the errors in Astronomy or science generally that I can spot. I also liked 'Danny Collins', not having any aversion at all to Mr Pacino. But out of the three of them, now many months later, it is 'Force Majeure' that lodges most firmly in my memory - a most unusual film with a subject matter I don't recall being treated on film before, yet so real.

I'm astonished that Albert is being so attentive and loving with you. When we had our cats and had holidays we were treated with the utmost disdain when we returned home! You could see it on their faces....."You abandoned me (albeit in a luxury cattery which cost almost as much for the two of them as our holiday cost for the two of us) and now you are going to be made to suffer for it"!!!

I remember years ago a TV show about English immigrants and why some decided to go back home. One woman went on and on about the way English birds tweet and trill beautifully (which I'm sure they do) and how Australian birds are raucous and jarring. This was her reason for leaving our land of milk and honey. I can understand the cultural shock!

Knowing nothing else, I have to say I love Australian birds and their cacophony.

Gday Johnno, will soon be Helo John again.. and you will have landed good and proper boyo. Nice to have you back in your village in Wales... but it was nice to have you in our time slot for a while.. I am glad your fur babies and otherwise have stood up to your absence..but although I live "over here" I have to say.. Welcome home John and Chris. Nos da for now.

Love your last holiday snap. Albert is letting you know 'I missed you and didn't like being left home alone' isn't is nice to be loved? Your dogs all seem to have been on rather grand adventures of their own.

Dear Albert - did he give you a chewing out when you returned? I'm sure that he was positive that you had abandoned him. Love the ear shot on the TV screen, he is genuinely upset.Happy to have you home again, safe in the drear of autumn with your sweet pets.

Glad to see everyone settling back in. Even though Himself was with the cats the week I was out sailing, they were both keeping an eye on me more than usual when I returned. I had to pay the toll of many head rubs before I could get on with things.

Welcome home! And thank you for all the interesting holiday adventures, I left like I had had a break from dreary old routine too. So glad your family was pleased to see you. We had a cat when I was a kid who'd sulk for days after we brought her home from the chattery. We know she was well treated and that she showed no signs of pining when she was there, but,boy, did she punish us when we got home!